Knowledge is the ultimate production factor beyond labour and capital. How to create knowledge and develop it until generating innovation is the key question for any organisation.

CSIL provides impact studies and policy analysis for funding agency decision-makers, helping them navigate the complex intersection of science, technology, and innovation. Our teams offer strategic insights that optimise resource allocation, ensuring that policies not only advance scientific excellence but also strategically contribute to enhancing industry competitiveness and addressing significant societal challenges.

Covering diverse research topics, CSIL excels in areas such as public support for science policy, research infrastructures, research and innovation policies for SMEs, technological development, and digital transformation. Within our broad spectrum of expertise, CSIL’s research experience spans various science fields, including space and earth observation, particle physics, life sciences, social sciences, humanities, and defence. With a client base that includes top players in these fields, CSIL’s experts are well-positioned to contribute to the knowledge-driven evolution of industries and sectors, fostering innovation, competitiveness, and societal progress.

Our services include:

• Economic studies providing policy formulation and in-depth analyses (ex-ante, mid-term and ex-post) or meta-evaluations of the economic impacts of RDI programmes;
• Socio-economic impact assessment of big science projects and research infrastructures, including science parks and business incubators;
• Foresight scenarios, analysis of market potential and competitiveness opportunities for specific technologies;
• Mapping and classifying technological domains and their development trajectories;
• Strategic advisory and evaluation of innovation financing, venture capital initiatives and new financial instruments;
• Strategic assessment of financing market gaps in innovative sectors and markets;
• Support to research results exploitation, including support to entrepreneurship, start-ups and scale scale-ups in emerging industries with fast-growth potential;
• Research and policy analysis of innovation and the uptake of technology in SMEs.

Our approach combines qualitative and quantitative methodologies, including interviews, focus groups, and case studies, as well as statistical and econometric analysis, patent analysis, network analysis, and counterfactual impact assessment.